The Early Days (1960s - 1970s)
From the University at Buffalo Libraries, Department of Special Collections, University Archives:
“The Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU) was organized during the spring and summer of 1974, partially in response to cuts in the SUNY budget the previous year. Its purpose was to "promote the best interests of students and education at the State University of New York at Buffalo" (GSEU constitution, 1975). Among the issues addressed by GSEU were the quality of graduate education, affirmative action, salaries, and working conditions. In 1975, the organization attempted, unsuccessfully, to gain legal recognition as a union from the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB).
In March and April 1976, GSEU called and held a strike referendum. Important issues discussed at that time included union recognition, salaries, reduction in the number of teaching assistantships, and affirmative action. Although the majority of those voting favored a strike, the predetermined number of 325 yes votes was not achieved and no strike was called. A second-strike referendum held in Spring 1977 failed by one vote.”
“The Graduate Student Employees Union (GSEU) was organized during the spring and summer of 1974, partially in response to cuts in the SUNY budget the previous year. Its purpose was to "promote the best interests of students and education at the State University of New York at Buffalo" (GSEU constitution, 1975). Among the issues addressed by GSEU were the quality of graduate education, affirmative action, salaries, and working conditions. In 1975, the organization attempted, unsuccessfully, to gain legal recognition as a union from the Public Employee Relations Board (PERB).
In March and April 1976, GSEU called and held a strike referendum. Important issues discussed at that time included union recognition, salaries, reduction in the number of teaching assistantships, and affirmative action. Although the majority of those voting favored a strike, the predetermined number of 325 yes votes was not achieved and no strike was called. A second-strike referendum held in Spring 1977 failed by one vote.”
Pre-Recognition Efforts (1980s - early 1990s)
From William C. Barba's The Graduate Student Employee Union in SUNY: A History in the Journal for Higher Education Management: A Journal of the American Association of University Administrators, published in 1994:
"Many officials, both in SUNY and state government in general, never believed that the supported graduate student union would ever become a reality. This union movement may also have significant national implications as supported graduate students in several other states seek to form employee unions" (39)
Graduate student workers (TAs and GAs) at the University at Buffalo spearheaded the initiative to formally unionize under the GSEU; they sought to be formally recognized by the State of New York as "the exclusive bargaining agent regarding various terms and conditions of employment for their more than 4,000 constituents" (41). While graduate workers had been organizing for decades prior, the event that triggered a more rigorous unionizing effort occurred in the mid-70s, specifically a slash in the state budget which "necessitated significant cutbacks in state operations, including proposed employee layoffs at UB" (41).
After an initial unsuccessful petition to PERB, the GSEU at UB spent the next 8 - 9 years organizing the support of other graduate workers at the three additional university centers (Albany, Binghamton, and Stony Brook). In 1984, a statewide version of GSEU presented another petition to PERB "requesting recognition of a bargaining unit of graduate student employees in SUNY" (42). After several more years of legal battles, court cases, PERB petitions, and one final appeal by GSEU in 1991, "the full [PERB] reversed the director's earlier decision and recognized that supported graduate students were employees as defined by the New York State Taylor Law" (44). The GSEU voted to formally unionize one last time in December 1992.
"Many officials, both in SUNY and state government in general, never believed that the supported graduate student union would ever become a reality. This union movement may also have significant national implications as supported graduate students in several other states seek to form employee unions" (39)
Graduate student workers (TAs and GAs) at the University at Buffalo spearheaded the initiative to formally unionize under the GSEU; they sought to be formally recognized by the State of New York as "the exclusive bargaining agent regarding various terms and conditions of employment for their more than 4,000 constituents" (41). While graduate workers had been organizing for decades prior, the event that triggered a more rigorous unionizing effort occurred in the mid-70s, specifically a slash in the state budget which "necessitated significant cutbacks in state operations, including proposed employee layoffs at UB" (41).
After an initial unsuccessful petition to PERB, the GSEU at UB spent the next 8 - 9 years organizing the support of other graduate workers at the three additional university centers (Albany, Binghamton, and Stony Brook). In 1984, a statewide version of GSEU presented another petition to PERB "requesting recognition of a bargaining unit of graduate student employees in SUNY" (42). After several more years of legal battles, court cases, PERB petitions, and one final appeal by GSEU in 1991, "the full [PERB] reversed the director's earlier decision and recognized that supported graduate students were employees as defined by the New York State Taylor Law" (44). The GSEU voted to formally unionize one last time in December 1992.
The Graduate Student News & Views, 1993
"This official certification vote was the culmination of almost twenty years of negotiations, work stoppages, and administrative agency and court cases to be recognized as a public employee union in SUNY" (39)
After the certification vote in 1992, GSEU was officially ratified as a public employee bargaining unit within New York state. In February of 1994, after almost a year of statewide negotiations, GSEU and New York state reached a tentative contract that included: "a state subsidized health insurance plan, a pay increase over the 1994-1996 contract period, and a grievance procedure" (44). GSEU members approved this contract in March 1994 and it went into effect in September of that year (44).
After the certification vote in 1992, GSEU was officially ratified as a public employee bargaining unit within New York state. In February of 1994, after almost a year of statewide negotiations, GSEU and New York state reached a tentative contract that included: "a state subsidized health insurance plan, a pay increase over the 1994-1996 contract period, and a grievance procedure" (44). GSEU members approved this contract in March 1994 and it went into effect in September of that year (44).
Becoming a Better Union (mid 1990s - present)
GSEU Memebrs Marching to Capen Hall, 2019
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After being affiliated with CWA for almost a decade and a half, the GSEU solidified its relationship with CWA Local 1104 in the late 1990s and settled within their jurisdiction, under the larger heading of CWA District 1. Throughout the early 2000s, living wage campaigns were organized across different university departments, most notably in the English Department in the late 2000s, when TAs and GAs who were paid approximately $7,000 per academic year (10 month contract), threatened to withhold grades at the end of the Spring semester.
A more structured, university-wide living wage campaign began in early 2017 under the title of the Living Stipend Movement. Founded and lead by union mobilizers, the Living Stipend Movement fought for a living wage for all graduate workers and after 3 years of protests, combined with faculty senate and staff support, the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) rose the stipend floor from $15K to $20K per academic year. The Living Stipend Movement continued working alongside GSEU leadership into 2021 where it formally dissolved after being instrumental in yet another financial victory for graduate workers: fee abolition. |